Keeping Peace Amidst Poop Chaos

Why does my bathroom smell like poop all the time?

For homeowners, having a bathroom that smells like ass is not only uncomfortable and unhealthy, but also unpleasant. You might not want fecal remains floating up your nose given that the average human spends around 75 hours a year on their home toilet.

Lack of ventilation

Tiny excrement particles shoot into the air as you flush the toilet. If the restroom doesn’t have adequate ventilation, those particles stick around and give off that unpleasant odor that is all too common.

Dilution, according to experts, is the answer to pollution. In order to clean up the air in your bathroom, you must introduce fresh air. The two most apparent strategies are to open a window and/or switch on the fan.

Low water pressure

Ideally, all of your poop should be removed with a single flush. However, you could leave skid marks on your toilet bowl or little feces fragments that didn’t flush away if your toilet has low water pressure. If you overlook these residues, your bathroom may begin to smell like feces.

Consult a plumber about ways to increase the force of your flush, but in the meantime, always do a courtesy flush as a precaution.

Septic Tank Is Full

Typically, toilet waste solids drop to the bottom of your septic tank, where they decompose. But if the level of bathroom waste in your septic tank climbs above average, it clogs your home’s plumbing.

If your septic tank is full, your bathroom may smell like sewers. Slow drainage, gurgling water, and waste backing up into your toilets and tub drains are further symptoms of a full septic tank. To drain your septic tank, call a plumber. To empty the tank, they’ll pump it with a lengthy hose.

Leaky Wax Ring Seal

The majority of home toilets have a wax ring around them that seals them to the floor and stops mold growth. Water can seep out of the base of the toilet, though, if that ring breaks, moves, or dries up.

A shaky toilet is another indication of a broken wax ring seal. The wax ring seal will need to be replaced, which is a pain in the rear unless you’re an expert in home renovation.

Dry P-trap

Located within a sink or shower drain, a P trap is a tiny, curved device that collects water and stops sewer gas from seeping into your house. The P trap dries out after a time of inactivity in the bathroom, enabling sewage odor to enter.

This may cause your bathroom to smell like rotten eggs or sulfur (which often gets mistaken for poop). Every few days, run water into the drain to keep the P trap hydrated.

Clogged Drain Pipe in Your Tub or Shower

Bad scents cannot be eliminated by running water if your shower or tub drain is blocked. A buildup of hair, filth, soap scum, and personal care items may be the reason for this. Even if this isn’t exactly giving your bathroom a poop stench, it still smells bad.

If you’re searching for a do-it-yourself fix, start by pouring hot water and then a solution of one cup baking soda and one cup white vinegar down the clogged drain. After waiting 10 minutes, cover the drain stopper and flush with hot water once again.

Replacing Toilet

Lastly, it might be time to say goodbye to your old friend. The type of material used in construction, the level of installation, and frequency of usage all affect how long a toilet will endure.

Read more in our article, so that you can constitute the factors yourself on How Long Does A Toilet Last? And When Do You Replace It?

Why is poop coming out of my shower drain?

More than merely disgusting, sewage seeping up through your bathtub is an issue. Sewage includes pathogenic germs and other microbes that pose a serious threat to human health if ingested. When this happens, your tub or shower will undoubtedly require a full cleaning, but you must first identify the source of the problem.

Sewage backing up into your bathtub is most frequently caused by blocked sewer lines. A single drain pipe that connects to the sewage line beneath your home serves as the conduit for all of the sinks, toilets, and bathtubs. All wastewater and sewage from your house is transported by this drain pipe to the city’s sewer system.

When the sewage line is blocked or clogged, wastewater has nowhere else to go but back toward your house. As a result, sewage starts to back up into your drains, frequently starting in the bathtub or shower. Anything can cause the sewage system to get clogged, but the following are the most common causes:

• Hair
• Cooking oils and grease
• Food waste
• Particles from soap
• Small children’s toys
• Jewelry
• Baby wipes or other non-flushable items
• Dirt
• Rocks
• Tree branches and debris
• Rodents

How to handle it?

Unless you have plumbing knowledge, and experience, its best to call a trusted professional like Royal Flush Plumbing but you can only do so much, and tendency is that you could even make the situation worse.

However, here are band-aid fixes and precautions that you can take while the plumbers aren’t there yet.

Don’t use a plunger

Only obstacles close to the drain or toilet head can be removed using a plunger. It won’t be able to clear the obstruction or go into your sewer line.

Turn off the water

Turning off the main water valve will stop extra water from leaking into backed-up regions. Additionally, this will stop additional sewage from entering your drains.

Examine your vent pipe

Problems with the sewer system may result from blocked or clogged vent pipes. Your sewage line should be able to drain correctly if any obstacles are removed from the pipe. The vent pipe is often immediately over your bathroom on your roof.

Snake the shower and toilet drains

A drain snake can be used to dislodge the obstruction-causing item. You might be able to resolve the problem by snaking both the toilet and the shower drain. If all of the sewage and wastewater drains from the tub, your attempt was successful.